A utility vegetation inspection is the check a utility forester, a contractor's general foreman or a safety auditor makes on line clearance work: is the crew qualified and working safely around energized lines, and did the work leave the clearance the utility asked for without butchering the trees. This form follows a span-by-span audit. Pick whether you are watching a crew at work or auditing finished work; the crew sections — qualifications, job briefing, approach distances, insulated tools, spotter, traffic and the work zone — appear only for a crew at work. Every audit ends with clearance, pruning quality and hazard trees, so a failed check becomes a finding with an owner. Fill it in here and download a PDF without an account, or speak while you walk, and the document writes itself.
Qualified for the line, briefed for the job
Line clearance work is only for people the utility and the applicable rules treat as line-clearance qualified, or trainees under their direct supervision. The form records each person on the crew, their role and whether their qualification was verified; it does not define who qualifies. ANSI Z133 is the tree care industry's safety standard, and the utility's own contract and federal and state rules sit alongside it.
Before work starts, the crew lead runs a job briefing: the voltages present, the approach distances that apply, who does what, the hazards on this span and what happens in an emergency. The audit checks that it happened, that it covered those points and that it was repeated when the job changed.
Approach distances, stated by the rules, not by this form
Minimum approach distances depend on the voltage, the worker's qualification and the rules that apply where the work is done. This form deliberately does not print them. It asks the auditor to type the voltage class as the utility gives it, and then to record whether the crew kept the distance required and could say what it was.
Alongside that sit the controls that make it possible: insulated tools that are clean, undamaged and in test, an aerial lift rated for the work, a spotter watching whenever work approaches the conductors, and cut limbs kept from falling into the line.
Clearance and pruning quality
After the work, the audit looks up. Is the clearance what the utility specified for this circuit, allowing for how fast each species grows back? Were cuts made at a branch collar or a lateral large enough to take over, with no stubs, no tearing and no topping? Were broken or cut limbs left hanging, poles and guys cleared, stumps cut low, brush dealt with and the property left as found? Many utilities write their pruning specifications in ANSI A300 terms; the form records whether the work met the specification you were given.
Hazard trees and follow-up
Line clearance crews and auditors are often the only people who see the dead pine leaning toward a three-phase line. Each hazard tree gets its own entry with its location, species, size, what is wrong, how close it is to failing into the line and what happens next. A tree already on or touching a conductor is a safety finding whatever the rest of the audit scored.
Common questions
Does this form state the minimum approach distances?
No. Approach distances depend on voltage, qualification and the rules that apply to your work. The form records the voltage class and whether the crew kept the distance required; the utility, your qualification and the applicable rules say what that distance is.
Who is line-clearance qualified?
That is defined by the applicable regulations and the utility's requirements, not by this form. The form records each crew member's role and whether their qualification was checked.
Can I use this to audit finished work without the crew present?
Yes. Choose "After the work only" at the start and the crew sections fold away. Clearance, pruning quality and hazard trees are still recorded and scored.
How is the score worked out?
It is the share of applicable checks marked Pass. N/A answers are left out. Safety failures are listed as findings whatever the score, so a high percentage never hides an approach distance that was not kept.
Is this an official utility audit form?
No. It is a general inspection that records what most utility vegetation programs check. Your utility's contract may ask for more; add it in the notes or the corrective actions.